I’m in good company as we commemorate National Whistleblower Day on July 30. After all, two Navy Sailors, Samuel Shaw, a Revolutionary War naval officer, and Richard Marven, a midshipman, were the first whistleblowers in 1776.
Shaw, a midshipman, and Marven, a third lieutenant in the Continental Navy, were moved to act after witnessing the torture of British prisoners of war by Commodore Esek Hopkins, then Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Navy. In reporting the misconduct of the Navy’s highest officer, they both were punished, dismissed from the Navy, and later faced criminal charges filed by Hopkins. Appalled by the case, the Continental Congress enacted a whistleblower protection law on July 30, 1778, and even helped provide resources to support their legal defense.
At the time, the law declared it “the duty of all persons in the service of the United States, as well as all other inhabitants thereof, to give the earliest information to Congress or any other proper authority of any misconduct, frauds or misdemeanors committed by any officers or persons in the service of these states, which may come to their knowledge.”
The continuous issue we have today is what happens to whistleblowers after they have done their due diligence in reporting misconduct, fraud or ill will to others. Their truth-telling often significantly affects their careers, families, and life.
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